To Life
by Dark Magician Girl Aeris
Summary: When Bakura feels a need to prove himself, Yugi winds up with a magician for a new pet! But having a duel monster in the house isn't very easy when she can't understand a word you're saying...
1. Default Chapter

When I wrote the fic Dark Magic Attaque, it was to counter the image of the fluffy-headed DMG. But something didn't feel right. So, instead of scrapping DMA, I wrote a sister-fiction. In To Life, I EMBRACE the air-headed little magician. And I absolutely love her to death this way. I hope you do, too!

* * *

Chapter 1: Ai. And the cat.

"I can too do it!"

Akeifa smirked at his young hikari. "Sure you can. And dogs can fly."

"Um, that's _pigs_ can fly," Yugi Motou cut in politely.

"Whatever. He still doesn't have the power."

Bakura scowled and snatched the Millenium Ring. "I do too, and I'll prove it! Yugi, let me see your deck!"

Atemu rubbed his temple, exasperated. "I would expect this sort of thing out of the Tomb Robber, but you, Bakura?"

"I'm tired of him thinking I can't do anything... But... I am sorry. I shouldn't have summoned her."

"It's not you summoning her that I mind, Bakura, it's you _loosing_ her."

"Well, we found her again, isn't that good?"

Atemu turned to look at the 'her' in question. She was sitting quietly now, not chattering rapidly and bouncing up and down like she had been when they'd brought her to the Kame, singing and holding a cat. Kneeling down, Atemu looked into the wide green eyes. A line from one of Yugi's webcomics popped into his head. Fear the cute ones. Somehow, as cute as this one was, he felt a sense of dread at just the thought of her being part of this world... Atemu turned and looked at Bakura.

"May I at least ask why you chose, of all the cards in the deck, the Dark Magician Girl?"

Yugi stepped forward. "Actually, that was my idea."

"Yours. Why?"

"Well... she looks human, for one. People would panic if they saw, say, Gazelle running around the park."

"True."

"And besides, she looks sorta... innocent. Really harmless," Yugi continued. "She's so cute, you know? It was hard to imagine how she could cause any real trouble..."

"But she did."

"Well... yeah..."

Akeifa smirked to himself. It wasn't often that his gentle light, or Yugi, for that matter, was the cause of their problems. The boy was too meek, too mild, too damn boring to do anything interesting without a little goading first. And the look on stupid Atemu's face made the whining he would have to endure quite worth it. He turned and looked at said former Pharaoh, who sat eye to eye with said magician girl. There was a strange look in the female's eyes, as though she was thinking of something important, as though there was really a brain in that fluffy little blonde head...

Nah.

_She knew who this was. She knew him. He was the pharaoh. Her pharaoh. But he was speaking a language she didn't understand, and did not seem to understand her when she spoke. It was frustrating, very frustrating. She looked around at all the people. There was Pharaoh, and a boy with white hair, and another boy with white hair, and a little boy, who looked just like Pharaoh. There was an old man, too, whose hair had turned gray, and he was small, like the little boy was small. He kept making exited noises at her. He seemed to like her, so she smiled at him, and it made him more exited. The little pharaoh turned and talked to him, though, and he talked back, and didn't talk to her anymore. That was all right. She couldn't understand him anyway._

_She turned at the sound of a door opening. Three more people were walking into the room. There was a girl with short hair, and a boy with funny hair, and a boy with golden hair like hers. Pharaoh stood to greet them. The boy with golden hair came and sat right in front of her, talking excitedly in the language she didn't know. Suddenly he lunged forward, throwing an arm around her shoulder, still talking excitedly._

_A moment later, the air was filled with the acrid scent of black magic..._

"Joey!" Yugi's eyes went wide. "Are you okay?"

Joey sat up, rubbing his chest. The girl had pressed her hand to him, and... "What was that? That thing attacked me!"

There was a snort from the figure in the corner. "That's because you scared her, idiot. Look."

Joey turned. The girl was gone. But he could just see the tip of one blue boot poking out from under the table. "She's hiding from me?"

Akeifa rolled his eyes. "Yes, you stupid mortal. If a strange being came at you and grabbed you, wouldn't you try to get away?"

"I didn't grab her," Joey muttered.

"Must be how it seemed to her, though," Tristan said, shooting a glare at Joey.

"Oh, shut up."

Tea, meanwhile, had knelt down by the table. She peeked under, and found herself nose-to-nose with the pretty mage. "Hey, there."

The little magician backed away slightly before dropping a few syllables. Tea shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you're saying. Why don't you come out from there? No one will hurt you, I promise." The girl under the table didn't seem to understand, so Tea slowly held out her hand. "It's okay. I'm your friend. You can trust me."

Something in Tea's voice seemed to get through to the little mage, because she reached out, timidly taking the outstretched hand. Tea smiled, guiding her out from her hiding place. "That's right. It's okay. You're safe here. I promise."

Solomon Motou had been listening to Bakura's story of how they had almost lost this magnificent little creature when the attack on Joey brought his attention back to the magician herself. He watched Tea coax the childish-looking Duel Monster out from under the table in much the way you would lure out a cat, such as the one that had mysteriously appeared in his favorite chair. It was then that it occurred to him that she was a little like a wild animal in a cage; she was scared, confused, frightened. He walked over and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Wide eyes turned up to him, and he saw the instinct to flee come and go. Yes, much like an animal, but at the same time very, very human. He sat and looked at her. "You know, that language. I think it's Egyptian."

"Egyptian, Gramps?"

"Yes. Egyptian, but a very ancient form of Egyptian. And if that proves to be the case, I just might have a friend who could understand her. But first, a test." Solomon thought a moment, then started speaking slowly and carefully. After a moment, he stopped talking and nodded to the girl. She stared, and then began to speak as though picking up where he left off. Solomon smiled at her and ruffled her hair. She seemed to like it, and leaned her head against his hand. "I thought as much."

"Yo, Gramps, what did you say to her?"

"I happen to know a few lines from the Book of the Dead, or Coming Forth By Day, as she would know it. I tried a few phrases, and sure enough she picked right up on it." He chuckled. "She's a smart little thing."

"She's not really a thing," Tea cut in. "Look at her. She's a human being. We need to stop calling her a thing."

"Does she have a name? Something the other cards call her? We need to find out," Yugi said.

Akeifa moved then. He sauntered over and looked down at the magician. After a moment, he began speaking rapidly. The girl, eyes widening, replied just as effortlessly. To Solomon's surprise, they spoke back and forth for a moment before the former tomb robber said simply, "No name." Solomon looked up at him, impressed. "Well done!"

"It's my native language, what do you expect."

Bakura looked at him doubtfully. "So you've known what she was saying this whole time?" Akeifa grunted a reply. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"You never asked," Akeifa said simply.

_It was good to know she could understand someone, that someone could understand her. The old man's speech had been flawed, but this one spoke perfectly. He was also able to keep up with her speech flow. Somehow, language sounded faster when you didn't understand it._

_She looked up at the white-haired boy who could speak so well, and chanced a smile at him._

"She's so cute!" Tea squealed as the magician smiled at Akeifa. "Oh, Yugi, you're going to keep her, aren't you?"

"Um..."

"I even know the perfect name for her! If she likes it, anyway!"

Atemu looked over at Tea. "Oh?"

"Yes! We can call her Ai! Akeifa, ask her if she likes it! Please!"

Scowling, Akeifa looked at the teenager a moment before speaking to the mage in the same dialect he had used before. The girl looked thoughtful a minute before answering back an obvious question, to which Akeifa said one word alone.

The little Duel Monster's eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands happily. Tea beamed. "I think that's a yes."

Solomon nodded, amused. "Ai it is then, and welcome to the family."

_Ai. The boy had said they wanted to call her that. It meant love, he said. She liked that. Love. Love was good, although she didn't know much about it personally. She looked around at all of them. They were talking amongst themselves again, and the one who spoke was standing to the side. There was a window beside him, and the sky outside was black. It suddenly occurred to her that she was very tired. First, she had been pulled from her own world and dumped here. Then she'd seen the cat. She liked cats. She had gone after it. She'd caught the cat, but she'd also gotten lost, and it was a very long time before the white-haired boys and the little pharaoh had found her and the cat. And then she'd been brought here, and there were all these people. She needed a nap. Like the cat. The cat was asleep on a chair. It was curled up. It looked comfortable. Pulling off her boots, she curled up against the girl with brown hair, who looked down at her, startled. She looked up at the girl. "I am tired. I wish to sleep." The girl shook her head, repeating words she had said earlier, and she frowned. "I need to sleep. Where may I sleep?" The girl shook her head again, and she sighed. Turning, she tugged on the old man's sleeve. "Please, I want to sleep now. I am very tired." He studied her a moment before he, too, shook his head. Frustrated, she turned to the white-hair in the corner. "Why do they not understand me?"_

_The white-hair looked at her. "They do not understand you because they do not speak our language."_

"_How do I tell them I wish to sleep?"_

_He raised an eyebrow. "You sleep?"_

"_Yes, who does not?"_

_He just shook his head, and began speaking to the others in the strange tongue that Ai did not know._

Half an hour later, the gang had left. Yugi stood arranging blankets for the little mage Ai to sleep on. It was decided that she would stay in the living room for now, but the couch was too narrow, so they were making a bed on the floor while she watched. When they finished, Atemu smiled and nodded, and Ai took it as a cue to lie down. She smiled up at them sleepily, murmured what Yugi assumed was a "good night" of sorts, and closed her eyes. The sleek gray cat, waking, hopped off its chair and curled up beside the girl. Without opening her eyes, she hugged it close, and fell asleep.

Studying her resting, Yugi realized that Ai looked a lot older than they had thought. When she was awake, she moved so much and talked so childishly that they had all assumed she was fairly young. But when she slept, it was easy to see that she was at least their age, if not older. At the same time, she was so delicate, so _pure_, that she seemed to have this ageless quality that puzzled him. He looked up to see Atemu studying her in much the same way. "So," he ventured, "Can we keep her?"

"She's not a pet, Yugi."

"I know... But can we anyway?"

"Yugi..."

"Well, then, can we at least keep the cat?"

Atemu just turned to look at him, exasperated, before going in to bed.

Before he went to sleep that night, Solomon Motou placed a long-distance call to America. After an hour, he hung up the phone, satisfied, and went to bed.

The next morning, Yugi woke to the sounds of a small catastrophe and a flushing toilet. Rushing into the bathroom, he found a clawed-up mage and a soaking wet cat. Ai was curled in the corner sniffling while the stray ran in circles around the bathroom, howling. He shook his head, grabbed a towel, and cornered the animal, wrapping it up tight, at which point it seemed to calm down. Then he turned to Ai. Her eyes were wide, her hair was a mess, and her arms were covered in claw marks. "Yami!"

Atemu trudged in, half-asleep, but at the sight of Ai and the cat he stopped short, his eyes wide open. "What in the name of Amun happened here?"

Yugi studied the water around the toilet and the claw-marks on Ai's arms. "I think she tried to give the cat a bath. In the toilet."

"Oh, dear Ra..."

Yugi knelt next to the frightened girl, taking her arm gently to examine it. The scratches weren't deep, so he got a wet washcloth and ran it over the light wounds. Ai stared at him, eyes wide, while he applied bandages to a few of the deeper cuts, all the while gently reassuring her that it was all right, she hadn't done anything wrong, they weren't mad, she would be fine. Finally, he finished, just as Atemu finished drying the cat, which proved to be glossy white instead of gray. Ai looked at the cat and spoke uncertainly. In reply, Atemu sat the animal before her. She reached out to pet the little feline, and it purred. Ai was happy again.

It was just as the two boys finished cleaning the bathroom that Solomon Motou came upstairs, beaming. "We have visitors," he announced. "Yugi, you remember Rebecca and her grandfather? Arthur is going to try and help us with out little friend."

Arthur Hawkins stood in the doorway, his young granddaughter peeking out from behind him. When he saw Ai, he shook his head. "If it was anyone but you, Solomon, I wouldn't have believed it."

Solomon laughed. "I hardly believed it myself! But here she is, big as life!"

"Solomon, this proves my theories! It proves it!"

"I know. That's why I called you."

Ai, meanwhile, had apparently decided that she was bored, and had begun to roam around. Yugi and Atemu found her in the kitchen, pushing buttons on the microwave to make it beep. Yugi frowned. "Ai." She looked up from the microwave, and he led her instead to the television and turned it on. A morning talk show was on, and Yugi managed to get Ai settled watching it while Atemu explained the cat, Ai's scratches, and the fiasco in the bathroom. Arthur laughed, delighted. "She's incredible!"

_They were all talking. The old man and Pharaoh and little pharaoh and a girl and a big old man. And while they were talking, they were not paying attention to Ai. So she turned instead to the magic box in front of her. The box had pictures in it. Pictures that made sounds and moved around. She reached forward and pushed a button. The picture changed to birds. She pressed it again. People. A house. Puppies. She watched the puppies a while before getting bored and changing the picture one last time. A horrible monster appeared in the box..._

Atemu turned at the sound of the yelp, but was too late to stop the following explosion as the TV was blown up. Ai's coiled staff was still aimed at the screen. He groaned. "Yugi..."

"I didn't know she would blow it up! It's not my fault!"

Rebecca wrinkled her nose. "She's not very intelligent, is she."

Yugi jumped up. "That's not true! She's just confused! She doesn't know anything about our world!"

Atemu was startled by the vivacity with which Yugi defended the young monster. Yugi wasn't usually one to stand up to people so tenaciously. But Yugi stared at Rebecca, unwavering, until the girl looked away. "Sorry."

Ai, meanwhile, had retreated under the table again. She had undoubtedly thought the yelling was meant for her. Atemu watched as Yugi went and sat by the table. "Come on, Ai, it's all right."

Strange, Atemu thought. He seemed so attached to her already.

Ai crept out of hiding and looked at the blown television anxiously. Yugi reached over and caught her chin in his hand, making her look at him. "Listen to me, Ai," he said. "You cannot do that again." Ai babbled a reply. "That is not good. You have to stop." Ai tilted her head to the side. She obviously didn't understand, but Yugi held her chin until she nodded anyway. Yugi smiled, and ruffled her hair. "Good girl."

It seemed nice to Atemu that Yugi should find something he could care for that way. As far as he knew, the boy had never had a pet...

No.

This was _not_ an animal.

This was something altogether different, and could not be kept like a cat or dog. They couldn't cage this creature in, no matter how human or inhuman she was. Atemu sighed. Eventually, they would have to send this girl back to the shadows she came from.

Arthur Hawkins spent that morning talking to Ai. At first, Atemu noted, she was reluctant to talk to him. And then when she did, she did so slowly and deliberately. At first, Atemu was puzzled. And then he realized what was going on. Ai could tell that Arthur had never heard her language spoken properly before. She was trying to make it easier for him to understand by carefully pronouncing each word. Yugi's right, he thought, amused, she is a clever one. And very considerate.

When Tea woke up that morning, the first thing she did was go through her closet. It had occurred to her as she drifted to sleep that, aside from the clothes on her back, Ai had nothing to wear. And the clothes on Ai's back were hardly appropriate, either. And, as it was highly unlikely that Yugi or Atemu would ever think of this, she supposed it was up to her to provide decent clothing for the girl. She sat for a while, assessing her options. Ai was shorter than she was, but her bust was larger, and her waist was very tiny. Finally Tea grabbed some sweatpants and a tee shirt and resigned herself to the fact that Ai would have to be taken shopping. Grabbing her credit card, she steeled herself for the task before her and headed to the Motou home.

When she got there at eleven, she had to ring the bell a full five minutes before anyone answered. It was Atemu, looking frazzled. He mumbled a greeting and stepped aside to let her in. Tea stared at him. "Are you all right?"

"She's destroyed the TV, she's almost flooded the bathroom, she set her hair on fire playing with the toaster, and every time I turn around I seem to step on that cat's tail."

"Oh..." Tea wasn't sure she'd ever seen Atemu look this worn out. Then again, he'd been over-stressing himself ever since he'd obtained a body of his own. Tea assumed it was all catching up to him. "So, where is everyone?"

"Upstairs," Atemu said, leading her through the Kame and up to the house above. Tea understood a bit of why he was so tired when she saw Ai. The little monster-girl was hunched over next to the couch, meowing loudly. Yugi looked up and sent a cheerful "good morning" and a smile at Tea, who replied, "What is she doing?"

"The cat is under there."

"Oh..." Ai pulled back, hugging the cat, and Tea blinked. "I thought it was gray."

"She gave it a bath."

"Oh."

"In the toilet."

Tea just shook her head. "Look, I brought some things for her to wear, and if it's all right, I'd like to take her shopping later today. My stuff won't all fit her, so she needs clothes of her own."

Yugi looked ecstatic. "That's a great idea! Why don't we all go, though? She might be a little much for one person to handle alone."

"That's what I was just thinking," Tea said, looking around. The house was in shambles. Ai's bedding was strewn about, the television had been blown up for sure, and Atemu seemed so tired that Tea got the feeling he'd been the only one trying to keep the over-active creature in line. She looked around, having lost track of Ai, only to find the girl sitting right at her feet, looking up at her innocently. Tea grinned in spite of herself. "Well, come on," she said, "Let's get going."

_She didn't know why they wanted her to put the funny clothes on, but she did anyway. She didn't like them, though. The tall man spoke to her, but all she really understood was clothing. He didn't speak well. She wished the white-hair that could speak were there. But she wasn't sure he liked her anyway._

As they walked, they took turns teaching her their names. Tea was delighted that Ai picked up on hers first. Of course, it was the easiest, after all. It was also the only one she managed to get quite right. Somehow, Ai had a hard time pronouncing the 'Y' at the beginning of Yugi and Atemu's names, so they came out "Oo-gi" and "Ah-mi," which caused much laughter. So they had her try saying "Atemu" instead of "Yami". She got it. Rebecca she shortened to "Becca," which the little girl didn't mind, and Arthur she pronounced "Artur," having a hard time with the 'th' sound for some reason. When she got to Solomon, she jumbled it so badly that the poor thing hid her face in her hands, and refused to speak again for a good while.

When they got to the mall, Tea noted that Yugi promptly warned Ai to stay close. Of course, Ai promptly didn't understand a word he said and went running to look at a window display. Yugi chased after her, while Atemu moaned that this was a mistake. Tea turned to look at him. "Do you really dislike her that much?"

Atemu turned. "No, it's not like that. She's just so clueless. You can't talk to her. You can't explain how to behave. So she does what she wants. If she at least knew how to act, it would be nice having her here. But she doesn't, and it's not."

Tea smiled. "Well, then, it's up for us to teach her."

"It's going to be difficult. She can't understand us."

"That doesn't mean it's impossible, though!"

The ancient spirit sighed. "Tea, simply stated, she doesn't belong here. Sooner or later, we'll have to send her back to where she came from. I'm worried that Yugi will grow too attached to her, because it will make it that much harder for her to go home."

Tea turned to look at Ai. She and Yugi were looking at clothes in a window. "I never thought of that," she said softly. "It just never occurred to me that Ai couldn't stay here."

"It hasn't occurred to Yugi, either. That's why I'm worried."

While Solomon and Arthur headed to the food court to talk, Tea and Rebecca had the time of their lives picking out clothes for Ai. Yugi tried to help to, but most of what he chose didn't want to fit right. Atemu just sulked. So eventually, the two boys were shoed away with the promise to meet in two hours.

Tea turned to Rebecca. "Well, are we ready to get serious about this?"

Rebecca looked past Tea scornfully. "I am, but I don't think she is."

Tea turned. Ai was sitting in the middle of the aisle, playing with shoes. Tea shook her head. "We've got a big job in front of us."

"No, _you've_ got a big job. From here on out, I'm just here to watch."

"Gee, thanks." Tea walked over and helped Ai to her feet. "Come on, now, we're going to find you some nice things to wear."

The next two hours passed slowly for Yugi. He already saw Ai as a dear friend, but he was well aware that she could be... troublesome. The poor, confused little thing. He could picture her getting lost in the big mall, and wandering anxiously about, not understanding what anyone said, not knowing where she was, not having-

"Yugi!"

Yugi looked up. "Yes, Atemu?"

"I said, it's time to meet the girls at the fountain."

"Oh."

The girls were already there when they arrived, and Yugi sighed in relief. Everyone seemed to be in one piece, and Ai looked as normal as anyone did now. They'd dressed the mage in a pretty pink top and little white shorts and tennis shoes with floppy pink socks. Her hair was back in a ponytail and if it weren't for the spots under her eyes, you'd never look at her twice. Well, maybe you would. If you were a boy.

Tea considered the shopping trip a success. They'd found enough new clothes to last Ai the summer, she _hadn't_ maxed out her credit card, nothing had been blown up, and they'd even remembered to pick up supplies for the cat. Soon, Arthur and Solomon returned from places unknown, and the group set off back to the Kame. While they walked, Tea coached Ai in the _proper_ pronunciation of their names a bit more.

"Yugi."

"Yu..."

"Yugi."

"Yu-GI!"

"No, YU-gi."

"Yu-GI!"

"Okay, let's try another one. _Yami_."

"Yam... mee... Yami?"

"Very good!"

The cat was waiting in the window when they finally reached their destination. Ai ran in to hug it, and it sniffed her suspiciously before hopping into her lap. "Mieu," Ai announced suddenly.

"Mieu?" Tea asked?

Ai nodded and pointed to the cat. "Mieu!"

Arthur stood next to Tea. "You've taught her, Tea. Now she's teaching you."

"What?"

"Mieu is Egyptian for cat."

"Oh... oh!"

Arthur laughed. "I suppose it's her way of saying thank you."

Tea grinned. "Yeah, I guess so."

Ai beamed up at them, knowing somehow that they had understood, before settling down to play with her little feline friend.

That night, Yugi had the strangest dream. He dreamed he was in a world of swirling colors. Ai was standing beside him when suddenly she faded away. He searched and searched for her, but could not find her in the world of shades and hues. When he woke, he was clutching his pillow, drenched with cold sweat. He got up silently and went into the living room. There was Ai, curled up in her blankets, with the beloved cat asleep on her pillow. He sat next to her to watch her for a while, and the cat woke. He looked at it. It blinked wide, blue eyes before settling back to sleep. With a sigh, he turned his attention back to Ai, and to the sudden certainty that somewhere, somehow, someone out there was missing her very much. After all, it hadn't been him Ai was with in the dream. He knew it because when Ai looked at him, she looked up, not down.

When Atemu trudged out of bed the next morning, he was so tired that he made it to the kitchen before hearing the voices.

"Ai... shi..."

"Aishitieru."

"Ai... shi..."

"Ai. Shi. Tie. Ru."

"Ai... shi... tie... ru..."

"Aishitieru."

"Aishitieru!"

"Very good, Ai!"

Atemu shook his head. "Yugi."

"Yes, Yami?"

"Why are you teaching the duel monster to say 'I love you'?"

"Because it's cute."

Atemu sighed and turned on the coffee maker. In the living room, the lesson continued.

"Konnichiwa."

"Kon..."

"Konnichiwa."

"Konnichi... konnichiwa!"

"That's right!" Yugi reached over to ruffle Ai's hair. "Very good, Ai! You're learning well!"

Ai giggled, and Atemu rolled his eyes. "The girl doesn't even know what she's saying. She's only mimicking. She won't learn."

In the living room, Yugi picked up the cat. "Cat."

"Cat?"

"Cat," Yugi said, taking her hand and resting it on the cat's head. "Cat."

"Cat..." Ai stared at the kitty, then pulled it close and hugged it. "Cat!"

Yugi grinned. "See? She can, too learn!"

Atemu swore softly to himself. Ai tilted her head, hearing him from the next room, and repeated the swear. Yugi's eyes widened. "Yami!"

"Told you. She has no idea what she just said."

"That doesn't matter! We still do not teacher her words like that!"

"I wasn't teaching her anything! I said it and she copied me!"

"Then don't say it! You shouldn't say that anyway!"

Ai reached out and tugged on Yugi's sleeve, wide-eyed, and Yugi didn't need a translator to know what she wanted, her eyes said enough. "It's okay, Ai. You didn't do anything wrong. It's Yami's fault." She didn't look re-assured, so he reached over and tousled her hair, and she relaxed. She really likes that, Yugi thought. He sighed. "You know, Yami, I was thinking."

"Yes?"

"School starts in three weeks, and I know Ai can't stay here forever... So why don't we keep her here until the end of vacation? That way, we have enough time to give her some good memories to take back with her."

Atemu smiled to himself. "That's a good idea, Yugi. That's a very good idea."

* * *

Now, before this updates, I'm going to post another chapter of Dark Magic Attaque. Read them both and tell me which you like best! Arigato!


	2. Ai's Adventure

Well, here I am at chapter two of To Life, and I'd like to explain a few things. First, Atemu and Akeifa are the Egyptian names of Yami and Yami Bakura. I know, the Shonen Jump manga is just calling him Thief Bakura, but I'm in the official Gaia Yu-Gi-Oh guild, and I know better. Second, Dark Magic Attaque will not be updated until after To Life is updated. Thank you.

So, people seem to be enjoying Dark Magic Attaque more than To Life, because of the way that the DMG is portrayed. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who had problems with the bubble-head portrayal. Which makes no sense to me- Ai is CUTE! Anyway, this chapter features the cast- including Kaiba- in bathingsuits. It was written as random fun. ENJOY!

* * *

Chapter 2: Ai's Adventure.

Otherwise known as,

The Gods Have a Twisted Sense of Humor

"Who you gonna call?"

"Ghostbusters!"

"Who you gonna call!"

"Ghostbusters!"

"Yugi..."

"Yes, Yami?"

"Why?"

"Because it's cute!"

Atemu rolled his eyes. It had been three days already, and Yugi was still teaching Ai words and phrases that had no meaning to her. And all because it was cute.

"You know, Yugi, in all our time together, you have _never_ fawned over a girl like this before."

"Well... Ai's not like other girls, Yami. She's different. She's _Ai_."

"In other words, she's not really a girl."

"I didn't say that!"

"But you were thinking it."

"Well... Sort of. I feel like, since she's not human, I can just be me, and she won't think I'm weird."

"You need to have more faith in yourself, Yugi."

Yugi sighed. "I know."

"Anyway, isn't it about time you had her get dressed?"

The smaller boy nodded. "Ai," he said, "Clothes." 'Clothes' was one of the basic words Arthur had managed to teach Ai before he and Rebecca had to return to America. To Ai, it meant, "go pick out something to wear." Ai nodded and ran over to pick through the neat pile of boxes in the corner than constituted her wardrobe. Tea had made matching outfits and put them in different boxes, and Ai was learning to tell what outfit was in which box by the color of the box. Without hesitating, she picked up a deep forest green that contained her favorite outfit. Yugi nodded, and she ran into his room to change. She came out in a green, red, burgundy and beige floral skirt that swished around her ankles, a sleeveless burgundy top, and tan sandals. Yugi smiled. Tea had done a good job at picking clothes for her. "Nefer," he said, and Ai brightened. It was one of the few words that Arthur had taught them, mainly because Ai seemed to use it a lot; it meant, 'beautiful.' Employed as a complement, it was a very effective way of getting Ai to smile.

Ai was brushing her hair when the doorbell rang. Yugi ran to answer it. Joey stood, leaning casually against the wall. "Hey. You guys ready to go?"

"Almost. Ai's just finishing up. I hope."

When they walked in, Ai jumped to her feet. "Jo-ee! Jo-ee!" After her initial fear of Joey had dissipated, she had grown quite fond of him. Joey grinned.

"Hey, kid. What's up?"

Ai hugged him happily while Atemu grabbed a small duffel bag. "Are we meeting everyone else at the park?"

"Yeah, I just figured you might need some help," Joey said, fumbling to latch the bracelet Ai held out to him. Clasping it around her wrist, Joey grinned at the girl. "There, we got you all prettied up, ready to go?" Ai smiled at him eagerly, and Yugi laughed. "She knows you're saying something good by the tone of your voice."

"Cool. So, come on! What are we waiting for!"

* * *

Akeifa leaned against the gates to the park, bored out of his skull. He didn't want to be here. Bakura wouldn't even let him sabotage the rides. Stupid water park. Stupid mortals... He heard voices. His hearing capabilities were above average, and he tilted his head to the side. Yes, that was Yugi. He also heard the pharaoh and that twit Joey. Ai was with them, too, he assumed.

Ai.

Little know-nothing Ai.

Stupid, know-nothing, terribly trusting Ai.

Maybe this would be fun after all.

* * *

"We didna start the fire! It... it was always burning since the world been turning!"

"Wow, Yugi, when did you teach her that?"

"I didn't! She picked it up listening to the radio! But listen to this! Ai, who you gonna call?"

"Ghostbusters!"

Tea squealed. "That's so cute!"

Yugi beamed. "I've been working with her a lot this morning. Ai, sing with me?"

"Sing, sing!"

"The dark night sky above..."

Ai scrunched up her nose. "The dark night sky above... exists to expose our hearts as... they call out to each other... when... when..."

"When the two of us are apart."

"When the two of us are apart!"

Bakura gasped. Tristan stared. Joey ran into a trashcan. Tea blinked. "Yugi, how did you ever teach her that?"

Yugi shrugged. "We stayed up all night watching anime videos. Lodoss is her favorite, so I decided to teach her the song. That's all she knows, though. It took running through the opening credits about twenty times for her to get it right."

"She sings beautifully," Bakura commented.

"That's not all," Yugi said proudly. "The first time she heard it, she danced to it!"

"She can dance?"

"Yes, and it's really nice to watch her, too!"

Tea felt the pang of envy. There was so much this creature seemed able to do. True, she liked the little Duel Monster as much as the rest of them, but lately Ai was all any of the guys talked about. She was pretty, sweet, funny, and now she could even dance...

"Tea, are you alright?"

Tea looked at Atemu. "I'm fine," she said, hoping she sounded cheerful enough to convince him. Atemu studied her for a moment hesitantly. Then he nodded. "Do you think you could show Ai how to put on a bathing suit so Yugi can show her the slides? She still needs a lot of help, you know."

"Okay..."

"And Tea?"

"Yes, Atemu?"

"It's only temporary. She'll be gone before you know it, and things will go back to normal."

Tea smiled in spite of herself. "Thanks, Atemu. You always understand."

* * *

Akeifa sat at the edge of the pool, watching his idiot hikari climbing the steps up the slide. Stupid hikari. Stupid water slides. Water slides were stupid because they were so short. If they were long they could be fun. But the ride was always over too fast. And Bakura was stupid because he just was.

Well, hello.

What have we here?

Little Ai in a pretty pink bathing suit. How lovely.

She was cute; even he had to admit it. And now, seeing her in next-to-nothing, he had to admit she had a nice body. But she was still a know-nothing little airhead.

"_Hey, Ai,"_ he called in Egyptian.

Ai's head snapped up. _"Hello, Akeifa! I did not see you over there!"_

"_Figured as much."_

"_I have more to ask you! Akeifa, what does the song mean!"_

"_Which song."_

"_The pretty one and Bakura called my voice beautiful!"_

"_Oh."_ Akeifa thought a moment before reciting the lyrics in his, and her, native language. Ai nodded.

"_It's beautiful."_

"_I suppose so."_

"_Thank you, Akeifa!"_

Akeifa grunted and turned, only to find Atemu looking at him strangely. "What."

"What did she ask you?"

"She wanted to know what the song meant, idiot. She's been coming to me for all sorts of strange translations lately." Akeifa paused. "Including the definition of one very interesting word. I must say, though, I can't imagine little Yugi saying such a thing as this was. So perhaps it was you..."

Atemu just glared at it. Akeifa grinned. "Figured as much. You know, you really should watch what you say around the little fluff-head. She's very impressionable."

"Shut up," Atemu said, and walked away.

* * *

It happened when they split into groups. Tristan, Joey, Akeifa, and Bakura thought Ai was with Atemu, Yugi, and Tea. Tea, Atemu, and Yugi thought Ai was with Joey, Tristan, and the Bakurae. So when the group joined back up two hours later, Ai was nowhere to be found...

_Everyone stood talking, and no one was paying attention to her. That was okay. There was lots of other stuff she could pay attention to. Ai looked around for something else to pay attention to. There were lots of people here. Lots and lots and lots and lots..._

_The first thing she saw was a man holding lots of floating bubbles on strings. Ai watched him give the bubbles to a bunch of little children. She wondered how he caught the bubbles without them disappearing. Whenever she tried to catch bubbles, they disappeared. She always figured they teleported. Maybe bubbles in this world couldn't teleport. She walked over and looked at the bubbles. After a while, the man turned and walked away. That was rude, she thought. She was still looking at the bubbles._

_So she followed him._

_She followed him for a while before she noticed the man in the hat. He had a little cart that he was pushing around, and he gave people things on sticks from the cart. The people ate the things on sticks. She watched them eating. Sometimes the stuff on the sticks would drip and go everywhere. Ai giggled. It was funny._

_After a while, Ai got bored. She decided to go back to the others. But on the way, she heard music. She figured that maybe she could investigate that, first._

_When she got to the music, she found a crowd of people. Squishing in to see, Ai saw a man playing an instrument with strings on it, and a woman playing a flute, and another man pushing buttons on a funny board. The music they played was nice. She sat down to listen._

_Of course, a young Duel Monster can not sit still forever. Not when there are so many new things to investigate. Eventually, Ai got bored. So she got up, and went to where the others were._

_They weren't there._

_Ai looked around, puzzled. She was certain this was where she had left them. But they were nowhere to be seen. It didn't make any sense. Her friends should be right where she left them, she thought. And then she remembered how the man with the bubbles had moved. Maybe they had moved, too. She looked around again, trying to decide where they would have moved. Finally, she just took off looking._

* * *

"Come on, big brother, this way!"

Seto Kaiba sighed and followed his younger brother towards one of the bigger slides. He hated doing things like this. He had a company to run! But he also had to spend some time with Mokuba. It was part of being a brother, he supposed. He followed his sibling from slide to slide. The sun was hot on his bare back. He chose not to swim, even though he had his trunks on. Instead, he stood and watched Mokuba enjoy himself. The kid was having fun. That was enough for him.

_

* * *

Ai had never felt so helpless before. No matter where she looked, she couldn't find her friends! Sometimes she'd think she saw them, but it was never them. She grew more and more depressed. Where were they? Were they hurt? Were they afraid she might be hurt? Were they even worried about her at all? What would she do if they had gotten tired of her and left her here? Where would she go? Who would help her? Who would give her food? She was so hungry..._

_Ai began to cry._

* * *

"Damn, it's hot out."

"I know, stupid, that's why we're here."

Kaiba rolled his eyes. He'd sat down on a bench to wait for Mokuba, only to have a couple of complete idiots take refuge on the bench a few feet away. They'd started talking, and wouldn't shut up. It wouldn't be so bad, of course, had it not been the most unintelligent conversation he'd ever heard...

"So, what do we do now, man?"

"I don't know. Let's pick up some chicks or something."

Kaiba rolled his eyes. Any girl who would give these two the time of day would have to be either very stupid or very desperate...

"Dude, check that out."

"What?"

"That girl over there."

"Holy shit! Check out those knockers! You think they're real?"

"No way, man. Can't be."

"Oh, shit, she's cryin'. Think she heard us?"

"From all the way over here? Hell, no, retard!"

"Whatcha thinks wrong with her?"

"Bet someone stood her up."

"With a body like that? Hell no! They'd have to be crazy!"

"Dude, I'm going to go talk to her."

Kaiba groaned. If they said 'dude' one more time...

"Hey, baby, what's up? You're looking kinda down."

It was when the girl replied that Kaiba became suddenly more interested in the conversation. His ears heard her answer in a language he didn't know. It wasn't Japanese, or English, or French, or any other language he could identify. His ears did not know what she was saying.

But his mind did.

"_Please... please help me... I cannot find them..."_

"Dude, we got ourselves a foreign babe here!"

"Aw, no way man!"

"I swear it! She's talking in some freaky language!"

"Yeah, right. Hey, sweet thing!"

Again, his ears heard one thing, and his head, another.

"_Please... I don't know what you're saying... Please help me, I'm lost..."_

"You know, if we can't understand what she's sayin', she can't exactly tell us no, can she."

"Guess not. Too bad for her."

Kaiba turned, not liking where this was heading. He studied the foreign girl. Long, blonde hair, green eyes, attractive, he supposed, but not his type. One of the punks, a guy with jet-black hair, leaned over and held his hand out to the crying girl. "Come on, sweetheart, I'll take you someplace nice."

Seto Kaiba groaned as the girl wiped her eyes and looked up at the guy. _"You know where my friends are?"_

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say, babe."

"Dude, you're really going to do this?" The black-hair's friend, a blonde, looked incredulous.

"Why not? It was your idea, anyway!"

"I was joking, man!"

The black-hair shrugged. "You don't like it, tough. I'm goin' for it." He turned back to the girl. "Come on, now," his voice was sugary, "I'm not going to hurt you. You just come along with me and we'll have us a little party." The girl took his hand, and he pulled her up. "That's right... you just be a good girl now..."

"Dude, this is so fucking illegal..."

"Shut up, man, you'll scare her off..." And he began to lead the girl away.

Maybe if he hadn't been able to understand her, he would have been able to turn around. But he couldn't. Kaiba watched the retreating backs. Finally, he got up, and followed them from a distance. Mokuba could watch himself for a while.

_

* * *

Ai looked up at the boy holding her hand. He seemed nice enough. As they walked, he turned and started talking to her. At one point, the other boy cut in. He sounded angry. But the boy with dark hair turned and spoke to him in a sharp voice, and he was quiet. They led her away from the other people, and pointed behind a building. She ran forward, eager to see her friends..._

_Only to find herself facing a cold stone fence._

_She looked at them, eyes wide. "Where... where are my friends?"_

"_Where are my friends?"_

* * *

Kaiba looked around the side of the building cautiously as the black-haired punk laughed. "She took it hook, line, and sinker, man!"

"This isn't right..."

"Dude, stop being such a pussy! This is the score of a lifetime!"

The girl looked up at them, her eyes filling with tears once more. _"Why? Why did you deceive me? My friends are not here, there is no one here! Let me go! I don't want to be here!"_

"Aw, look, the little girl is scared. How cute." The punk sneered and shoved her violently. "Come on, now, be a good girl, and it won't hurt. Much."

The girl's voice was soft. _"You lied to me. You do not know where my friends are. I am leaving now." _But when she tried to pass the black-hair, he shoved her again.

"Sorry, sweetheart, you're not walking out of here."

"Dude, stop this! We shouldn't be doing- "

The blonde was cut off by a fist to his mouth. The black hair snarled at him. "If you don't like it, pussy, then leave. But I'm having my fun." The blonde stood and stared in disbelief a moment, and then turned and ran. He brushed right past Kaiba without even noticing him. Kaiba glared at his back. Stupid coward... He resented people like that, people to afraid to stand up for themselves. Weaklings. You had to be tough to survive. It was as simple as that.

The sound of flesh-on-flesh and a loud wail bright Kaiba back to the present. He turned as the black-haired bastard slapped the girl again. She cried out, confused and hurt.

"_Please stop! I've done nothing wrong! I only want to find my friends!"_

The goon smacked her again, and her head slammed the wall. She sank to her knees in a daze. Kaiba decided not to watch anymore. It was time he acted.

The goon wasn't aware of the pipe until it came crashing into the back of his head. He snarled, turning, and lunged for Kaiba, who sidestepped him. At the same time, he looped one arm around the freak's neck and threw himself over backwards, effectively smashing the bastard's head into the concrete. The creep howled, but staggered to his feet. "Son of a bitch!" He pulled a knife from his belt...

And staggered suddenly, a bolt of what appeared to be pure light striking him in the chest. Kaiba turned to see the girl standing, the iron pipe held out in front of her in one hand. She swung it, and a rainbow flash seemed to shoot from the end of it, bringing the goon to his knees. Kaiba was struck by a sudden, intense sense of déjà vu. He's seen that stance before... He pushed the thought out of his head as the girl launched another rainbow 'attack' that crumpled the black-haired bastard. Chest heaving, she lowered the pipe, and looked up at Kaiba with wide, scared eyes.

"_I don't think I was supposed to do that..."_

With a sigh, he shook his head, and walked away. He needed something strong to drink...

_

* * *

The brown-haired boy turned and started to leave. Ai frowned. She didn't want him to leave. He had helped her. She took a step after him. He didn't run, so she took another, then another. He kept walking._

_And so did she._

Mokuba was munching on an oversized cookie when Kaiba got back to the bench. At the sound of his footsteps, his little brother looked up. "There you are! I was wondering where you'd gone!"

Kaiba looked at his little brother for a moment. This was his only family, he thought. If anyone ever tried to hurt this boy like that thug had tried to hurt that girl...

"Um, big brother?"

"What is it, Mokuba?"

Mokuba pointed behind Kaiba. "Who's she?"

Kaiba groaned and turned around. Sure enough, wide green eyes stared up at him. "What are _you_ doing here," he asked icily.

The girl tilted her head to the side. She thought a moment, before speaking. "Tankyu."

"Just go away, will you?"

"Big brother, who is she?"

"Just some crazy foreigner. Don't worry about-" Kaiba was cut off by the girl.

"_Do you know where my friends are?"_

He rolled his eyes. "No," he said firmly, hoping she at least understood that one word. Kaiba took Mokuba by the hand and lead him off. They walked in silence a few minutes before Mokuba looked back over his shoulder. "Seto, she's still following us."

Kaiba spun on the small figure. "Listen. I don't know where your friends are. I don't speak your language. And I don't have time for this. Leave me alone!"

The girl chewed her lip a moment before looking up at him. _"Can you understand me?"_

"Go away."

"_I'm very lost."_

"I don't care."

"_If I do not find my friends, they will worry about me. I do not want to make Yugi worry."_

"I said..." Kaiba stopped short. Had she really said that? "Yugi... Motou?"

The girl nodded eagerly. "Yugi! Yugi!"

* * *

They'd been searching for over an hour with no sign of Ai. Yugi flopped down on a bench. "It's all my fault," he groaned. "If something happens to her, it's all my fault."

Bakura rested a hand on the smaller boy's shoulder. "Now, Yugi, don't be that way. We're all responsible for loosing her. But this isn't the first time this has happened, you know. Remember when we summoned her?"

"I remember... she went after that cat..."

"And she was just fine then, now, wasn't she?"

"I suppose..."

Tea looked at Yugi sadly. She felt responsible for this happening. After all, hadn't she been the one wishing Ai would go away? Ai was a magical creature. What if a wish was all it took? A page over the park's intercom system interrupted her thoughts.

"Will Yugi Motou please come to the information booth? Yugi Motou to the information booth."

Yugi was up and running before she even had time to process what she had just heard.

Yugi's heart was racing. It had to be Ai, it had to be. Please, please let her be all right. If anything had happened to her, he'd never forgive himself... He slowed as he approached the booth. A golden-haired figure sat on a bench, a figure in a pink bathing suit. "Ai!"

Ai's head snapped up. "Yugi?" She looked around, wide-eyed, and then saw him. Her eyes filled with tears. "Yugi!"

Yugi slowed, walking up to her. She stared at him, her eyes filled with tears, without rising from the bench. He reached out to ruffle her hair, but instead found himself pulling her into a tight hug. "I'm sorry, Ai," he said softly. "I lost you. Again. I guess I'm just not cut out for this."

"Yu... gi..."

"But it's okay now. I won't loose you again, I promise. I'm going to make being here worth your time."

"Yugi!"

Yugi looked up to see Tea and Akeifa running up. Behind them were Atemu and Joey. Atemu stopped, panting slightly. "We heard... the page. Is she all right?"

"She seems to be." Yugi looked down at the girl. "She seems to be..."

Duke and Tristan came jogging up, with Akeifa sauntering behind them. The Egyptian spirit walked over to Ai and looked down at her before speaking to her. Ai giggled. Atemu glanced at him suspiciously. "What did you say to her?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

Ai, meanwhile, was looking around her anxiously. Finally, she frowned, apparently not seeing who or what she was looking for, and turned back to Yugi. "Yugi?"

Yugi looked back at her. "Yes, Ai?"

"Ai sorry..." Yugi blinked. He didn't recall teaching Ai that word. He shrugged it off. Arthur probably taught her while he was here. He had said she was giving her some basics. Ai looked up at him. "Ai sorry," she repeated. "Ai bad."

Yugi reached out and ruffled her hair. "Ai not bad," he said. "Yugi bad. Yugi sorry."

Ai reached up and hugged him. Yugi sighed. "Come on, guys. It's time to go home."

* * *

That night, Atemu couldn't sleep. Yugi got up four times to check on Ai, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was something else, something he couldn't quite put his finger on. He tossed and turned in his bed. Something was wrong with how they'd found her.

He re-played events in his mind. The group had split into teams to search for Ai. He and Joey had searched long and hard when the announcement came over the PA for Yugi to go to the information booth...

The information booth...

Ai didn't know what an information booth was. She wouldn't have been able to tell them whom to page, either, because she didn't know about public announcement systems. Someone would have had to help her. And to do that, they would have to understand her.

He glanced at the clock. It was two thirty in the morning. Well, too bad. He picked up the phone anyway.

* * *

Ringing. Akeifa looked over at the clock. Two thirty in the morning? Who the hell would be calling now? He scowled and fumbled for the phone. "All right, all right, I'm here, damn it."

"Tomb robber."

He growled. "Why the hell are you calling me at this hour?"

"To tell you to get over here. Now."

"And why the hell should I?"

"Because if you don't, I will report every theft you've committed, every act of vandalism, every disruption of the peace..."

"Disruption of the peace, hell! You're disrupting my peace!"

"I have photographs."

"I'll be right over." Akeifa hung up the phone, scowled at it, and went back to bed.

The phone rang again. He picked it up angrily. "Damn it, Atemu, I'm coming!"

"Just making sure."

Akeifa hung up the phone in disgust. Bakura looked at him sleepily from the top bunk. "Aibou? What's wrong?"

"Nothing you need to worry about. Go back to bed."

"Okay."

* * *

Atemu paced back and forth anxiously while Yugi and Ai looked up at him sleepily. "Yami, why do we need to be awake?"

"Just trust me, okay?"

"Okay... But I think Ai wants to go to sleep now."

"She can wait." There was a knock at the door. Atemu swung it open. "About time."

"Yeah, yeah." Akeifa sulked in. "Now, what the hell is it you want?"

"I need you to talk to Ai."

"Figured as much. Some pharaoh, can't even-"

"Just shut up and listen to me."

"You're not a morning person, are you."

"I said shut up. Now, we recovered Ai at the information booth, right? What I want you to find out is how she got there. Understood? Who did she talked to, who helped her, anything." Akeifa just stood there. "What the hell are you waiting for?"

The former tomb robber grinned. "You told me to shut up."

"Just talk to Ai, damn it!"

Akeifa flopped down on a stray pillow. _"Hey, kid."_

"_Hello, Akeifa." _Ai yawned. _"Why is Atemu yelling?"_

"_Because he's an asshole."_

Ai giggled. _"That's not very nice."_

"_Yeah, well, tough. Okay, here's the deal. I need to know who took you to the place where Yugi found you."_

"_Who took me there?"_

"_Yes. Did anyone talk to you?"_

Ai shifted uncomfortably. _"There was this man... I thought he was a nice man, but then he tried to hurt me... I didn't know why... and that's when the other one came. He's the one that helped me. He distracted the bad man, and I... I attacked the bad man. I know I'm not supposed to... Mister Arthur said so... but he was going to stab the other man with a dagger..."_

Akeifa raised an eyebrow. _"So you attacked the bad man. Then what?"_

"_The other man turned and walked away. But I didn't want to be alone anymore, so I followed him. He walked up to this little boy, about Yugi's size, and the boy pointed at me, and he turned and looked at me. I think he wanted me to go away. I didn't want to go away. I kept trying to talk to him."_ She paused thoughtfully. _"He understood me, Akeifa, I'm sure of it. When I asked if he would help me, he said _no_. I know what _no_ is, and he wouldn't have said it if he didn't understand me."_

"_Makes sense."_

"_And then I told him how worried everyone would be. And I said Yugi's name. And when I said Yugi's name, he got all weird. He grabbed me by the hand and took me to that place. And then Yugi came. But when I went to thank him, he and the little boy were gone."_

Akeifa had a little voice whispering to him now, one he scarcely dared to believe. He studied Ai. _"Tell me, what did the man who helped you look like?"_

"_Well… he had brown hair... and he was very tall... but what I noticed most were his eyes. He had eyes like lapis in the morning, very cold and blue. They were pretty eyes, but not the kind of eyes you want to get very close to..."_

Akeifa threw back his head and laughed. The gods had quite the sense of humor these days! And what a twisted sense of humor it was! Wait until Yugi learned that it was none other than his arch nemesis that had saved his precious little pet!

Atemu was looking at him angrily. "Well? Spit it out! What happened?"

"Kaiba..."

"What about him?"

"Some punk attacked her... And Kaiba saved her ass and took her to the information booth!"

Atemu's eyes narrowed. "That's not funny, Akeifa."

"Too bad! I asked her for a description of her 'rescuer' and she described him perfectly! Even described Mokuba a bit! You owe Seto Kaiba your Duel Monster's life!"

Yugi, meanwhile, was trying to calm Ai, who was very unhappy. She seemed to think Akeifa was laughing at _her_, not some bizarre twist of fate. He reached out and patted her hair. In response, she latched onto his arm, and would. Not. Let. Go.

"Ai, that hurts."

Ai mumbled a reply. Yugi tried to shake her off.

"Ai, please let go."

Another mumble, and Atemu glanced at her. "Ai, come over here, okay?" He held out his arms to indicate his meaning.

Ai unlatched from Yugi, instead attaching herself to Atemu's waist and resting her head in his lap. Atemu blinked. "Not what I had in mind," he commented, and then, "Shut up, tomb robber. She doesn't like the way you're laughing."

"Ooh, this is too good! Of all the people in this damned city, Seto Kaiba! Of all people!"

"She might not have been describing him."

"She had to be! She nailed him dead on!"

Yugi, meanwhile, ran to his room. He came back holding a book. "There is one sure way to tell," he said, holding it up. "Last years school yearbook!" Yugi flipped it open until he found the page for his class. He held it up to Ai. She looked at it, puzzled, and then her eyes lit up. She pointed to Kaiba's picture, exclaiming loudly.

Yugi and Atemu didn't have to ask for a translation of what Ai was saying. Akeifa's manic laughter said quite enough.

"Damn it all," Atemu muttered. Ai looked up at him.

"Damn... damn it all!"

Yugi groaned. "Yameee!"

"It's not my fault! She has no idea what she's saying! And Akeifa, ENOUGH! I'm about two seconds away from Mind Crushing you..."

* * *

Now, kindly take the time to review. I'm ready to cry from lack of reviews. Arigato! 


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